Falling Figure

Stanley William Hayter

Engraving, soft-ground etching and scorper with silkscreens

National Gallery of Art

This dynamic abstract print showcases Stanley William Hayter's groundbreaking experimentation with color printmaking, featuring a highly saturated field of overlapping colors achieved through five silkscreens applied over black intaglio work. Created in 1947 at his New York studio, this piece exemplifies Hayter's fusion of Surrealist automatism with emerging Abstract Expressionism. As a British artist who founded the legendary Atelier 17—where Picasso, Pollock, and Chagall all worked—Hayter revolutionized 20th-century printmaking through his scientific approach to the medium. This print represents a pivotal moment in his career when he was pushing the boundaries of simultaneous color printing techniques.